Christopher Coll, 45, and Kayleigh Coll, 38, from Blandford Forum, Dorset, died from carbon monoxide poisoning while attending a cider craft festival in the New Forest on October 12 last year. An inquest at Winchester Coroner's Court on Wednesday (July 22) heard that the couple had used a gas heater inside their camper van, leading to their deaths.
Discovery of the Bodies
The couple, a business owner and a trainee accountant, had traveled to the event to sell crafts and were staying in their van in a designated field for exhibitors. Fellow exhibitor Alexander Huxley, who had spent the previous evening with them enjoying drinks and music, became concerned when they failed to appear at their stall around 11:30 the following morning. He went to check on them and upon opening the door was immediately struck by an overwhelming smell of gas. He found a gas heater with a canister attached and saw the couple motionless in the rear of the van.
Cause of Death
An examination of the gas heater and cylinder revealed it had been used with 10% of gas remaining, and the heater had not been properly secured to the gas bottle, causing a gas leak. Hampshire area coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp said: "We'll never know how the connection became disconnected." Howard Jonas from Flogas, the company that carried out the inspection, explained that parabolic heaters should only be used outdoors or in well-ventilated spaces.
Coroner's Ruling
The coroner stated: "Overnight on the 11th they suffered carbon monoxide poisoning due to running a camper gas cylinder with a heater that was not designed for use in an inside environment." She could not conclude their deaths were accidental, as it was a deliberate choice to switch the heating on "with a totally unintended consequence." She recorded their deaths as misadventure and raised concerns over safety warnings on heaters, saying: "I will be contacting the manufacturers of the heater to see whether a warning is on the device itself, I think that may prevent a future death. All I can say is I am terribly sorry because it's an absolute tragedy for two young people to die like this."
Family Tributes
Family members portrayed Kayleigh Coll as the kindest person imaginable and Christopher Coll as a deeply loving, decent man who "absolutely adored" his children and harbored ambitions to live off the land. The inquest heard that this was an isolated occasion on which the couple had slept in the van, described as a "one off" while they were getting their business off the ground.
